Polk County
Sports
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
Softball: OSAA 5A State
Playoffs, Championship (at
Oregon State Softball
Complex): TBA.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU pitcher earns
all-region honors
MONMOUTH — West-
ern Oregon freshman
Kade Mechals was named
to the American Baseball
Coaches Association/Rawl-
ings NCAA Division II All-
west region second team.
Mechals, a relief pitcher,
posted seven saves during
t h e
2 0 1 7
season.
Mechals
record-
ed
a
1 . 5 9
ERA in
22.2 in-
nings
with 37
Wakem
strike-
outs.
Mechals held oppo-
nents to a .173 batting av-
erage.
Mechals was named
first team all-region by the
National College Baseball
Writers Association and
the American Baseball
Coaches Association.
J u s t i n Wa k e m a n d
Brady Miller received sec-
ond team honors by the
NCBWA.
Wakem hit .368 at the
plate. Miller went 5-2 on
t h e p i t c h e r ’s m o u n d,
throwing 57 strikeouts
over 54 innings.
Western Oregon fin-
ished the season with a
31-15 record overall and
won the Great Northwest
Athletic Conference regu-
lar season and tourna-
ment titles.
YMCA to hold
family fun run
INDEPENDENCE — The
Monmouth-Indepen-
dence YMCA will hold a
family fun run June 10 in
celebration of Olympic
Day.
Registration and check-
in begins at 8:30 a.m. The
start will take place at the
Independence Dog Park,
but parking at Riverview
Park is recommended.
There will be a long course
(5-kilometers) and short
course (one mile) avail-
able.
“We are excited to take
part in Olympic Day and
inspire kids and families in
the Monmouth and Inde-
pendence communities,”
said Kathy Martin-Willis,
the event coordinator.
“The Monmouth-Indepen-
dence Family YMCA is
proud to support the
Olympic Movement and
encourage children and
families to lead healthy,
active lives.”
For more information:
503-838-4042.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 31, 2017 11A
COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD
Ribich wins national title
Junior places first in the men’s 1,500-meter run
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
BRADENTON, Fla. —
There was no dive to the fin-
ish this time, but Western
Oregon junior David Ribich
showed he has a flair for the
dramatic.
Ribich
added an
individual
national
title to an
impressive
resume,
taking first
in
the
m e n ’ s
Ribich
1 , 5 0 0 -
meter run at the NCAA Divi-
sion II Outdoor Track and
Field National Champi-
onships on Saturday.
Ribich finished in 3 min-
utes, 49.64 seconds. Kyle
Medina of Chico State took
second in 3:49.86.
The race started out with
a slow pace, going out in a
67 for the first lap, but Ribich
was content to stay situated
in the lead group.
By the time they started
the final 400 the pace had
picked up considerably —
finishing the final lap in a 55,
Ribich said. The junior had
been at or near the lead
throughout the race and had
the field right where he
wanted them.
“I knew I had the fastest PR
in the field,” Ribich said. “I
also knew I had the fastest
800 time in the field, so I was
confident in my kicking abili-
ty.”
Ribich held off Medina for
the win. And finally, after
months of nonstop training
that began last August,
Ribich could exhale and take
in the moment.
“It’s surreal to get the
title,” he said. “This win it’s
like relieving pressure off my
shoulders.”
The pressure he felt didn’t
come from coaches or team-
mates.
Rather, it was the self-in-
duced pressure to take ad-
vantage of a chance to give
back to the sport he’s fallen
in love with — and to in-
spire others that they can
do the same.
—
Ribich’s ability to handle
pressure started young.
Ribich wanted to be in the
spotlight in junior high —
just not as an athlete.
“I wanted to be an actor,”
Ribich said. “My mom and I
took acting classes when I
was in junior high. We would
drive an hour and a half
f ro m En t e r p r i s e t o L a
TYLER PATTERSON AND GENEVA REINHEARDT/for the Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon junior David Ribich won the men’s 1,500-meter final on Saturday.
Track and field
• Western Oregon’s track and field team competed at the
NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Champi-
onships Thursday through Saturday in Bradenton, Fla.
• Wesley Gray placed 17th in the men’s triple jump final (48
feet, 11¾ inches). Sheila Limas De La Cruz took 21st in the
women’s javelin (126).
• Teammates David Ribich and Dustin Nading took first
(3:49.64) and sixth (3:51.50) in the men’s 1,500 final.
• Olivia Woods took third in the women’s 800 final with a time
of 2:07.38.
Grande to take classes.”
The peak of his acting ca-
reer was when he played a
king — although probably
not the take the director of
the play originally envi-
sioned.
“The king was supposed
to be this macho role and I
was maybe 4-foot-5,” Ribich
said. “The queen was a sen-
ior in high school and
Dragons advance to state semifinals
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
STAT SHEET
2
www.polkio.com
GENEVA REINHEARDT/for the Itemizer-Observer
Dustin Nading and David Ribich celebrate after taking
sixth and first in the men,’s 1,500-meter run on Saturday.
PREP SOFTBALL
DALLAS — Cross
Creek’s men’s club results
for May 23:
Two Man Best Ball
Gross: 1 (tie), Eldon
Rivers-Brian Reed and Lee
Gamaney-Rocky Kygar, 37.
Net: 1, Wayne Weathers-
John Mangini, 29; 2, David
White-Vern Smith, 30; 3,
Dave Voves-Ken Ross, 31.
The number of na-
tional titles that
Western Oregon
runner David Ribich
won during the track and
field season. Ribich was
part of the distance med-
ley relay team that took
first at the NCAA Division II
Track and Field Indoor
Championships, and he
placed first in the 1,500-
meter run at the outdoor
championships on Satur-
day. Ribich, a junior, also
runs cross-country for the
Wolves.
around 5-foot-10, but I just
embellished the role. It was
more like Lord Farqua from
Shrek.”
The acting career never
took off, but his belief that
small-town life doesn’t mean
you have to have small-time
dreams foreshadowed what
would drive him throughout
his running career.
See RIBICH, Page 12A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas’ softball team celebrates during its 3-2 victory
over Lebanon in the state quarterfinals on Friday.
Editor’s note: Dallas’
semifinal game against Sil-
verton was Tuesday after
press time. Visit
www.polkio.com for updat-
ed results.
DALLAS — Beating a
league opponent once can
be a challenge. Twice is
even more difficult.
How about four times?
“It’s hard to play any-
body three times,” coach
Brandi Jackson said. “Four
times almost never hap-
pens.”
But that’s exactly the sit-
uation Dallas’ softball team
faced in the state quarterfi-
nals on Friday against
Lebanon. Just like the first
three times, the Dragons
came out on top, defeating
the Warriors 3-2 to advance
to the semifinals against
Silverton.
The win didn’t come
easy.
With two outs in the first
inning,
Dallas mis-
played a
pop out,
allowing a
Lebanon
batter to
reach first.
The next
Simmons
batter hit a
two-run
home run to put Lebanon
up early.
“I told the girls that they
(Lebanon) are going to hit
the ball better in the past
and they are going to put
pressure on our defense,”
Jackson said. “That blooper
behind second base was
catchable. We would have
been out of the inning, but
the next batter hits that
home run.”
Finding themselves in an
unfamiliar spot — playing
from behind — the Drag-
ons never got antsy.
“There was a sense of
calm,” pitcher Kaelynn
Si m m o n s s a i d . “ We’v e
played and practiced so
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
much and we’ve worked so
hard that we remembered
to keep calm. Coach kept
telling us to play to win and
not to play not to lose.”
Dallas chipped away at
the lead.
An RBI single from Han-
nah Locke in the second
inning cut the deficit to 2-
1. Jayden Wynia scored
from third and then Sim-
mons drove in what turned
out to be the winning run
with an RBI single in the
fifth inning.
“We haven’t played from
behind a lot,” Jackson said.
“That takes a special team
to come back and not get
down, especially when they
haven’t faced that in a
while.”
The turning point on de-
fense came in the top of
the sixth. With a runner on
base and one out, Lebanon
hit a ball to center field.
Dallas made the catch
and Lebanon’s base runner
took off toward third.
See DALLAS, Page 12A
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports